Leaders Came To Glasgow For COP26 Summit On 118 Private Jets, Burning Over 1,400 Tons Of CO2
The ongoing COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland is being described as a major milestone in the global fight against climate change.
Leaders from across the world took the center stage in the two weeks making tall promises and setting ambitious climate goals for themselves and the rest of the world to avert a disaster.
One of the repeated promises was how they will phase out carbon fuels in the coming decades and embrace green and clean renewable energy.
There is a consensus among the scientific community and the world's political leaders that moving away from carbon-based fuels like coal, petrol, and diesel is necessary to keep the global temperature from rising beyond 1.5 degrees from pre-industrial levels.
This was also the most dominant theme in COP26 in Glasgow. But many have wondered how committed if at all they are the world leaders are about bringing in change when they themselves are not willing to do so.
Private jets
Case in point - private jet. Ever since the COP26 Summit began in Glasgow there have been several reports making rounds online claiming that around 400 private jets carrying heads of state, billionaires, business leaders, and celebrities have converged in the Scottish city for the event.
¡°It can¡¯t be stressed enough how bad private jets are for the environment, it is the worst way to travel by miles,¡± Matt Finch from the UK¡¯s Transport and Environment campaign group told Scotland¡¯s Sunday Mail.
¡°The average private jet, and we are not talking Air Force One, emits two tonnes of CO2 for every hour in flight. Private jets are very prestigious but it is difficult to avoid the hypocrisy of using one while claiming to be fighting climate change.¡±
He said for context, the ¡°total carbon footprint of an ordinary citizen ¨C including everywhere they travel and everything they consume ¨C is around eight tonnes a year¡±.
Many even shared photos of what they claimed to be of the 400 private jets parked in Glasgow.?
But according to a Reuters Factcheck, the image dates back to 2013 and shows the New Orleans Lakefront Airport, not 400 jets flown to Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit.
According to a report in Forbes, citing data compiled by WingX, an aviation consultancy, 118 private jets landed in Glasgow and Edinburgh airports for COP26, out of which 50 were on November 1, the day the summit began.
14,000 tons of CO2?
Overall, inbound private jets to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were up 525% on the opening day of the summit compared with the previous seven days, the report added.
If all 118 private jets at COP26 flew an average of three hours to and from the event that would put the combined carbon emitted by the 118 private jets at over 1,400 tons, it said further.
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